Hot Flash Cure

Hormonal imbalances, especially during and after menopause, can result in sudden sensations of heat, that make you sweaty and red in the face. While these are very common occurrences and usually disappear after a few years, sometimes they might be serious enough to hamper normal activities. In such cases, you need to seek professional help for treatment of hot flashes.

Medicines

• The doctor might put you on drugs to reduce occurrences or frequencies of hot flashes and help you cope with the situation better. Antidepressants in low doses have been known to be helpful in this regard. SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and SNRIs or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors like Effexor, Paxil, Prozac, or Pristiq are sometimes advised by doctors for relief from hot flashes. Other drugs include seizure treatment or shingle pain relief medicines like gabapentin. This medicine is beneficial for women who have a tendency to have hot flashes at night. Another hot flash cure would be clonidine, a drug that helps cure high blood pressure. This helps in providing fast relief during a flash attack as well. In cases of most medicines, however, you have to be careful about possible side effects that might include anything from weight gain, drowsiness, and nausea, headaches to constipation, dry mouth and sexual dysfunction.

Hormone Therapy

• In case of moderate to serious hot flash complaints, doctors might suggest hormone therapies in which female hormones like progesterone and estrogen are given to the patient. In case you have already had a hysterectomy, the doctor will advise you to take only supplemental estrogen therapy. Otherwise progesterone should also be taken. In either case, the hormones need to be administered in the most optimum tiny doses for brief periods of time in order to provide effective relief from hot flashes without considerable side effects. In estrogen therapy situations, you need to be careful about side effects especially the potential for heightened heart attack risks. Such risks are dependent on various factors such as your genetic composition, family history of diseases and reproductive health. Avoid estrogen therapy if you are a breast cancer patient or have tendency to suffer from frequent blood clotting. If you cannot take estrogen, the doctor might prescribe only a progesterone therapy as your hot flash cure. Megestrol acetate and medroxyprogesterone acetate--two drugs that are similar to progesterone--help in providing relief from the complaints.

Other Remedies

• Herbs like black cohosh, sage and red clover, taken in any form, from teas to pills can help provide relief from hot flashes. Rich either in phytoestrogens or isoflavins, these are generally beneficial for boosting post menopausal health. Other herbal cures include licorice, dong quai, ginseng and motherwort. On the whole, try to avoid hot foods with lots of spice, caffeinated foods, alcohol, smoking, frequent stress bouts and tight clothing. Exercise regularly, drink lots of water, have nutritious foods, sleep well and do not go on crash diets.